Hook and eye



(No Model.)

S. I. SLADE,

HOOK AND EYE.

No. 532,401. Patented Jan. 8, 1895.

Jamwell QS la/dw,

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL I. SLADE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

HOOK AND EYE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,401, dated January 8, 1895.

Application filed November 21,1894. Serial No. 529,500- (lio model.) Patented in France May 17, 1894, No. 238,586, and in England May 23,1894,N0.9,528.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, SAMUEL I. SLADE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hooks and Eyes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in hooks and eyes, and it consists in the peculiar formation and arrangement thereof hereinafter described and definitely pointed out in the claims.

The invention forming the subject-matter of this application has been made the subjectmatter of British Letters Patent No. 9,528, dated May 23, 189i, and French Letters Patent No. 238,586, dated May 17, 1894, and granted to myself.

Heretotore in the formation and manipulation of hooks and eyes it has been necessary in many forms to first carry the hook or eye memberaconsiderable distance past the point of final engagement; that is to say, the eye member for instance is required to be forced back on the hook member past the point and then drawn forward onto the curve or seat section of the hook. This required movement is objectionable when the hook and eye is employed on a closely fitting garment or article.

The aim and purpose of my invention are to so construct the eye member of a hook and eye that the above suggested objection is wholly overcome.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a hook and eye which when engaged will be positively held from accidental disengagement.

A further object is the provision of hook and eye members which will permit of a quick and easy engagement thereof and by a slight downward movement or twist of either member, as distinguished from an endwise movement, will be disengaged.

A further object of the invention is the provision of hook and eye members which will be readily applicable to gloves as well as all classes of wearing apparel wherein such devices are employed.

These objects are attained by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like letters of reference designate corresponding parts inthe several views and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the hook and eye showing them disengaged. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the same engaged. Figs. 3 and at are views similar to Fig. 1 showing modified forms.

In the drawings A designates the hook member and B the eye member. The hook member is formed of a single piece of wire having a dilated or enlarged engaging-head b which may have the squared outer end as shown in Fig. 1, or a rounded end as shown in Fig. 3. The head I) is bent or inclined at an angle to the shank of the hook. In forming the hook the degree of angularity is usually governed according to the particular use for which the hook and eye is intended, as for instance, when the same is employed in connection with certain classes of goods the head of the hook would be inclined slightly for-.

ward or directly down, whereas were the same to be employed for heavy garments the head would be bent back to form substantially a hook point.

The hook A has the usual securing loops at its end.

The eye member is formed of a single piece of wire having the shanks a a which are united by a tapering loop A the end of which is offset at an angle to the plane of the shanks and preferably tapered to form a converged or substantially V-shaped seating section beyond the plane of the shanks and in which the shank of the hook rests when the members are engaged. The lower end of the loop portion is less in width than the head I) of the hook so that the latter cannot be moved longitudinally into the same or out therefrom. The side bars or sections of the looped portion are separated as at a a distance sufficient to allow the dilated head I) of the hook to pass thorebetween at a point above or beyond the seating section of the loop so that as the head I) strikes the inclined section or offset, the same will not pass therein but will ride up thereon until it reaches the point a at which point it will enter between the sides of the loop.

To prevent the hook from accidental disengagement I form a spring tongue O by carrying one of the ends of the wire forward into the space between or approximate the ends of the loop and in proximity to the point at which the head I) enters. This tongue is looped its free end being rounded or curved and preferably located on the plane of the shanks between which it lies.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modified form in which theshanks a a of the eye are inclined and the tongue of the eye is formed into a circular curve at its end.

In Fig. 4 the construction is similar to that shown in Fig. 3 with the exception that the offset portion is substantially U-shape instead of V-shape as shown in Fig. 1. In both of these modified forms the principle is the same as that shown in Fig. 1.

In operation the head of the hookis forced onto the offset portion, and striking the tongue raises the same and enters the loop and thereupon drops until the shank of the hook rests in the seat, the head of the shank being below the tongue. By this means the shank has a free endwise movement in the loop and cannot be disengaged therefrom until the outer end of the hook or eye is bent down, which act carries the head section of the hook into engagement with the underside of the tongue raising the same, the head passing out from the loop. During this movement the shank of the hook strikes the end of the seating section of the eye and a prying effect is obtained which renders the disengagement of the members very easy.

I am aware that many minor changes in the peculiar shapes and formations above described can be made without in the least departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, What is claimed as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with an eye having its shanks connected by a loop tapering toward the end and inclined from the plane of the shanks, a hook having a shouldered head of a diameter greater than the space between the inclined lower section of the eye, substantially as described.

2. An eyehaving its shanks connected by an inclined loop, said loop tapering from the angle of incline, and a spring tongue lying between the shanks, substantially as described.

3. An eye having its shanks connected by an inclined loop, and a spring holding device located in proximity to and above the plane of the end of the loop, substantially as described.

4. The combination with an eye having its shanks connected by an inclined loop tapering from the point of incline and having a tongue lying between the shanks, and a hook having an enlarged end, substantially as described.

5. An eye member consisting of shanks connected by a downwardly and forwardly inclined loop, said loop having its sides eonverging toward the point, substantially as described.

6. The combination of an eye having its shanks connected by an inclined loop and a spring holding device located in proximity to and above the plane of the end of the loop, and a hook having a shouldered head of a diameter greater than the space between the inclined sections of the eye, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL I. SLADE.

Witnesses:

D. G. STUART, L. S. BACON. 

